Biomedical Informatics Research Specialist

UIC is among the nation’s preeminent urban public research universities, a Carnegie RU/VH research institution, and the largest university in Chicago. UIC serves over 34,000 students, comprising one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation and is designated as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPSI) and a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Through its 16 colleges, UIC produces nationally and internationally recognized multidisciplinary academic programs in concert with civic, corporate and community partners worldwide, including a full complement of health sciences colleges. By emphasizing cutting-edge and transformational research along with a commitment to the success of all students, UIC embodies the dynamic, vibrant and engaged urban university. Recent “Best Colleges” rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, found UIC climbed up in its rankings among top public schools in the nation and among all national universities. UIC has over 300,000 alumni, and is one of the largest employers in the city of Chicago.

The Biomedical Informatics Research Specialist will support the delivery of real-world clinical data to faculty researchers for use in secure computing environments. This position requires hands-on experience with clinical data transformation, particularly from Epic systems (e.g., Bridges, Chronicles, Clarity, and Caboodle) to data models such as i2b2 and OMOP, and knowledge of standards such as HL7 and FHIR. This role will be embedded within a service-oriented research computing team and act as a key technical liaison between data engineering staff, AI.Health4All and investigators.

The budgeted salary range for the position is $90,000-$110,000.  We strive to provide a competitive salary, considering factors such as available market data, internal equity, candidate experience and qualifications, and budget constraints. The final salary offer will be determined through a thorough assessment of these elements. 

This position is intended to be eligible for benefits. This includes Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Supports the design, development, and operation of biomedical informatics platforms that enable secure, standards-based access to clinical data for research.
• Contributes to the transformation and delivery of real-time hospital data, including HL7-to-FHIR conversion and integration with cloud platforms such as AWS HealthLake.
• Participates in the development of reproducible pipelines and data workflows that align with research data models (e.g., OMOP, i2b2) and institutional governance policies.
• Collaborates with faculty investigators, data governance staff, and research computing teams to scope, extract, and prepare clinical datasets in support of IRB-approved protocols.
• Translates clinical data already extracted from Epic (e.g., Clarity or Caboodle) into research-usable formats, supporting mappings to models such as OMOP or i2b2.
• Assists in the definition and implementation of access control policies using tools such as AWS Lake Formation and facilitates secure, auditable data interactions within enclave environments.
• Works in close partnership with teams managing secure computing environments (e.g., Azure SCE) to ensure tools and users can interact with data in-place without exporting sensitive information.
• Advises and consults with researchers on data availability, schema design, cohort-building strategies, and analytic readiness.
• Keeps up-to-date with trends and best practices in biomedical informatics, FHIR adoption, clinical data standards, and real-world evidence research methods.
• Documents and communicates data specifications, delivery workflows, and validation procedures to ensure transparency and audit-readiness across data projects.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics, Clinical Informatics, sciences, or a related field is required.
• A minimum of 2 years of related experience in clinical research informatics.
• Hands-on experience with informatics standards such as FHIR and HL7.
• Experience with ontologies and terminologies such as ICD-10, SNOMED, and UMLS
• Experience with ETL tools such as Apache NiFi, Talend and Apache Airflow, and ability to build ETL pipelines.
• Demonstrated expertise in programming languages, in particular Python and/or R.
• Familiarity with NLP and AI/ML and cloud-based technologies such as Data Lakes and API Gateways is a plus.
• Requires excellent communication, organization, presentation, analytical, and computer/PC skills, including Microsoft Office and other related software.
• Advanced skills in data analytics and data mining. Excellent problem-solving skills and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with Epic-derived data (e.g., Clarity, Caboodle) and transforming it into research models such as OMOP, i2b2, or PCORnet CDM.
• Hands-on experience supporting clinical data delivery for research studies, including transforming data into i2b2 or OMOP models.
• Familiarity with AWS and Azure environments used for secure clinical data processing (e.g., HealthLake, Data Factory, Azure SCE).
• Experience collaborating with researchers to deliver curated, filtered datasets in compliance with HIPAA and IRB requirements

For fullest consideration, please submit your resume and cover letter by Tuesday, October 28, 2025 to our online system at https://uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/17101?c=uic 

The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity employer, including but not limited to disability and/or veteran status, and complies with all applicable state and federal employment mandates. Please visit Required Employment Notices and Posters to view our non-discrimination statement and find additional information about required background checks, sexual harassment/misconduct disclosures, COVID-19 vaccination requirement, and employment eligibility review through E-Verify.

The university provides accommodations to applicants and employees. Request an Accommodation